Phillipsburg police say an active utility pole was discovered cut down Monday, in order to steal a transformer.

“Copper theft was the motivation,” Phillipsburg Mayor Harry Wyant Jr. said after tonight’s town council meeting. “Inside the transformer are wound-up copper wires.”

The downed pole was observed when a Phillipsburg police officer noticed a small fire Monday on Howard Street near the former Tippett & Wood building, police say.

Two downed electrical wires from the pole reportedly started the fire.

“They went all around the telephone pole like a beaver,” Wyant said, noting a hatchet was used. “They dragged the 600-pound transformer out of there. I have no clue how they did it.”

Jersey Central Power & Light responded and advised authorities that the transformer’s oil, which was on the ground, can contain polychlorobiphenyls or PCBs. The man-made substance is "reasonably anticipated" to cause cancer in humans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Phillipsburg Fire Department and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection were sent out to clean up the oil and put it in a drum, Wyant said.

“It escapes me no one got killed,” Wyant said, adding the transformer contained 4,800 volts. “I wouldn’t attempt it, and I’m an electrician. They were extremely lucky or they knew exactly what they were doing.”

Police say the incident is under investigation.

Phillipsburg police Chief James Faulborn said patrols would be increased on Howard Street.

There are plans to demolish the former Tippett & Wood plant near where this incident and another fire occurred in October.

Peron Development's director of development, Robert De Beer, appeared before council Tuesday to say the company, which is owned by attorney and developer Michael Perrucci, has entered into an agreement with a contractor to have the building demolished.

De Beer said he is hopeful the building will be demolished in 45 days.